To Survive
by Alice May Sawyer
Summary: 3015-Planets Etracon, Groutron, and Galeir are ruled by an evil tyrant. What does a wanted outlaw, Carlos Garcia, a shunned mutant, Logan Mitchell, a poor human, Kendall Knight, and a selfish millionaire, James Diamond, have in common? Full summary inside
1. Summary

**Summary****: 3015. Three planets; Etracon (formally known as Earth), Groutron, and Galeir; are all ruled by the tyrannical leader Alezandria; who lives in her own kingdom in the middle of the three planets. Etracon and Groutron are in a post-apocalyptic state while Galeir is only for the filthy rich and influential. Etracon and Groutron are inhabited by the infected; **_**created**_** by Alezandria- the first infected; aliens, and humans; a dying race (Galeir is only inhabited by aliens and humans). Due to the outbreak of infected, who thrive on flesh, all humans and aliens have stopped aging (each person's and creature's point of age different) in order to keep track of who's still alive and who's become undead.**

**Carlos Garcia is a wanted man. He's one of the last remaining humans, who has not become an infected, to have been there when Her Majesty Alez took control of the Earth, when it still **_**was**_** Earth, and joined it with its sister planets. He is also one of the oldest creatures alive; being 19 for 187 years; and if that weren't enough, he also contains the secrets and knowledge of their worlds- enough to possibly take down the Queen.**

**Logan Mitchell is a mutant- he is the first half alien, half human. Wanted by the Groutron Council for testing, he has been on the run for years; having to abandon his family and the few friends he had. Wherever he goes, he is shunned and has often times resorted to stealing food or water, but never to killing. He is one of the most intelligent creatures in all three planets combined, but being what he is, has never had a formal education; learning everything he knows from books and from his parents.**

**Kendall Knight is a poor human living on Etracon with his mother, Jennifer Knight, and little sister, Katie Knight. Due to sickness and pestilence, Jennifer has become blind over the years and Katie is constantly sick. His father being killed by an infected when he was young, Kendall needs to provide for his family. The Knights own a small shop, but due to heavy taxes by the Etracon Council, being robbed several times, and every one being penniless and not being able to buy goods from the shop, the Knights will soon have to declare bankruptcy.**

**James Diamond is the son of Brooke Diamond and Nathaniel Diamond; the most wealthy and influential people besides Empress Alezandria herself. Living in Galeir James has grown to be an entitled brat. ****He has been waited on his whole life and expects nothing else than to be primped and pampered for the rest of his life. He is very selfish and believes that aliens, infected…anyone besides himself and his parents, and Lordess Alez, are inferior compared to the Diamonds. **

**A/N: What do you guys think? I, for one, am excited about this one. I realize this isn't an actual chapter, I just want to know what people think first. And don't worry; an update for 'I Never Stopped Believing In You' is coming soon. :)**


	2. Chapter 1: New Beginnings on Etracon

**A/N: Okay, this is the first official chapter now. Yay! Please review and enjoy!**

**Warning: Some violence and...that's all I can think of right now...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Big Time Rush...but really, the only thing here that's Big Time Rush-ish are the names of the main characters; Carlos, Logan, Kendall, James, Jennifer, Katie, Camille...you get the point. This just poofed into my head and as far as I know it's original to me...But if there _is _something in here that anyone can place to a thing that already exists...well either i didn't recognize it or I subconsciously wrote it in...basically, if you can place it, it ain't mine.**

* * *

><p><strong>"Our deeds still travel with us from afar, and what we have been makes us what we are." – George Eliot<strong>

Carlos had been walking for days. Three days. He paused for a moment and looked at his hand, featuring a tattered gray, dusty glove. On the glove were three black marks. Yes. Three days. He had been in search for water...food...anything. But of course, being on Etracon, that was practically impossible. He looked up at the sky. The clouded sun was almost directly above him, meaning it was 11...maybe 10. In the distance he saw a paper fluttering weightlessly, effortlessly through the air. It had always amazed him that paper, leaves, or at least leaves when there still _was_ trees and leaves, could float and fly without the aid of any wind. He walked towards the tan, dancing page and grabbed it. He smirked. Down on the paper was an illistration of himself. His mugshot. 50,000 pounds of uranium? Wow. They were really stepping up the reward. He stuffed it into the pocket of his heavy coat and kept walking through the sand and dust.

Dust and sand, sand and dust. That was all that was left of the once blue planet. He remembered a time when there was grass, lakes, oceans, skies that were blue, clouds that were white, clean clear air...but that was all before the infection began...now, the world entire (Earth as he still called it, though it was technically known as Etracon now) was something like that of the Sahara Desert. Though he was one of the only ones that still remembered, it reminded him of the likes of the Dust Bowl. The sun was scorching, there was no water and hardly any life (the few life there was, was sick and not the infected...the humans and aliens), there was dust everywhere- even in they sky and air making the atmosphere a tinted orange instead of blue and clouding the sun. He coughed a little and began trudging on.

In another 4 hours he had reached a small town...if you could call it that. There were a few buildings, a couple creatures walking around, but that was about it. It reminded him of the Old West...open spaces where doors and windows should be, women in thick dresses, men in suspenders...though technology and weaponry had increased at an unbelievable rate over the past hundred and sixty-one years, fashion seemed to degress.

At the very end of the small set of broken houses and buildings was a two-story building. A shop. Most likely the upstairs was living quarters for whoever owned the establishment. Carlos walked to and inside. The place was completely empty. He sat at the bar where a tall man, or rather boy really, was futily attempting to clean the dust out of one of the mugs. He hadn't seemed to notice that someone was actually there. Carlos shrugged off the large coat and set down his bag, making a clanging sound as it hit the floor. The blonde boy looked up from the cup and to Carlos with a shocked expression.

Carlos slightly smiled. There weren't a lot of towns or cities left on Etracon that weren't infested with infected, and whenever Carlos visited them, they always had the same shocked, surprised expression.

"Uh...w-what can I get you?" The boy asked quickly putting the cup down and cleaning the counter a bit.

"Water...if you have any," Carlos said.

The boy nodded, grabbing the very mug again and going to the large spout in the wall. He waved his hand in front of it, a blue hologram containing the numbers 0-9 appearing in front of it.

"How many pints?" He asked over his shoulder.

"A pint," he responded.

The boy nodded and filled the large mug then set it in front of him.

"Sorry...it's a bit dirty..." he apologized.

Carlos shrugged. "Anything's better than nothing..." He drank a bit and noticed a group of aliens and humans standing outside the window, watching him.

The blonde boy looked down, embarrassed. "Sorry...they...they don't really have any money...can't afford water or anything...doesn't help matters that we've been robbed twice in the past three weeks..."

"What's your name?" Carlos asked.

"Kendall. Kendall Knight," he answered.

Carlos nodded and began rummaging through one of the pockets on his large coat. He pulled out a small drawstring bag and tossed it on the counter.

"Use it," he told Kendall and nodded to the window. "For them."

Kendall again wore an expression of confusion and took the pouch. Inside were several round glowing blue uranium chips. His eyes grew in shock and his jaw dropped. He had never seen so much uranium...

"This...this has to be about...60...65 pounds of uranium. The water was only half a pound..." he stuttered in amazement.

Carlos again smiled a little. "Like I said. It's for them...they need it more than me. Use it for water...food...whatever." He started filling a canteen with the water and clasped it again to the bag. He then shrugged on the coat again and picked up the bag, standing up. He started heading to the door.

"Wait!" Kendall quickly left from behind the counter and stopped him. "Who are you? Can I give you anything? Anything you want..."

Carlos shook his head. "You don't owe me anything. And I'm Carlos. Carlos Garcias."

Kendall smiled. He couldn't believe that this one man was about to change his life forever...he could now afford medical care for his sister, security from the infected...hell. Maybe they'd even be able to move...at least to Groutron. It was no Galier, but anything was better than their current situation..."Well. Thank you...Thank you so much."

"Good luck." He then left the store and began to again venture out to the next village...somewhere where he'd be able to find transportation to Groutron. He came to the end of the last shack and turned back to look at the shop. There were people and aliens with arm fulls of food, jugs of water, blankets...He nodded to himself. It wouldn't be the last he saw Kendall Knight.

Carlos turned back around to face the empty landscape. But before he began his new adventure, he turned to that last building and took out the wanted poster from his pocket. He then took out a knife, took off his ripped glove and stuck the poster and glove to the wall with the sharp blade. If they wanted to find him so badly...badly enough where they raised the reward...well then. Let the games begin. He smirked and again walked off into the emptiness.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** **So. How was that? Yeah...it's just more background right now...but it _will_ get better...promise. Please review :)**


	3. Chapter 2: You've Got a Fugitive in Me

**A/N: Sorry this update took such a long time...but here's chapter 2 now! Thanks to all who have reviewed and such. Enjoy!**

**Warning: Some violence and...that's all I can think of right now...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Big Time Rush...but really, the only thing here that's Big Time Rush-ish are the names of the main characters; Carlos, Logan, Kendall, James, Jennifer, Katie, Camille...you get the point. This just poofed into my head and as far as I know it's original to me...But if there _is _something in here that anyone can place to a thing that already exists...well either i didn't recognize it or I subconsciously wrote it in...basically, if you can place it, it ain't mine.**

* * *

><p><strong>"Running away will never make you free." - Kenny Loggins<strong>

Logan pulled the hood of his cloak tighter around him. He just barely got out of Sector 3 without being captured by the Groutron Council.

_'That was close...too close...'_ he thought to himself. Just a couple more sectors and he'd be able to steal a portal to Etracon. Of course Etracon was in a worse state of disarray than Groutron was, but at least there he wouldn't be prosecuted for being different...it'd be more along the lines of stares that read 'you freak' and fighting off infected.

He looked down at his green, scaley hands in disgust. He didn't blame the Council for wanting to bring him in and disect him molecule by molecule. If he were normal, he probably would've thought he was a freak that shouldn't belong with the rest of society. Hell, he was who he was and he _did_ think that he was freak that didn't belong anywhere.

He heard muted whispers and gasps as he walked down the cracked pavement; people were starting to notice. And it was just a matter of time until he was put through a wild goose chase again. Of course, he would win...one of the few benefits of being half alien, half human; he was fairly fast.

Logan started walking a bit faster- not to arouse suspicion, but enough to where he could make a somewhat quick escape.

But of course, no such luck. A whistle sounded, meaning an officer had spotted him. He began running, pushing past crowds of people, running past broken buildings...he would've kept running, but someone grabbed him by the collar and pulled him into an old alley way.

He let out a small, surprised gasp. "Let me go, just let me go. I'll do anything. Please," he begged.

A small, thin latino with black hair hidden by a newsboy cap and wearing a long sleeved shirt with suspenders and torn black pants and a battered bag on his shoulder was crouched in front of him. "Shhh," he whispered. "Just be quiet and stay here." The young, strange boy took off the cap and placed it on Logan's head and carefully laid the bag next to him. He then pulled the cloak from around the hybrid and put it around his own shoulders, pulling the hood over his head, in a manner much like his own. And as if that wasn't strange enough, the boy then looked around the corner and stepped into the crowd, fidgeting with the cloak almost as if he was imitating Logan.

Logan peeked around the corner and saw that the boy hadn't even gone one block when an officer, Officer Mullins (he had dealt with him before), pulled him by the back of his collar and threw him against the wall. Logan cringed in sympathy for him, but the boy didn't even wince.

Officer Mullins pushed back the hood and seeing that it wasn't an 18 year old boy with green scales for skin and purple eyes, he looked taken aback. But only for a moment; soon his look of confusion was replaced with a look of burning anger. He slammed the boy back against the wall again, his head bouncing back, hitting the wall twice. But still, he didn't even flinch.

"Do you think this is some sort of joke, boy?" the policeman asked gruffly.

"Well if it's a joke, it has to be the worst one I've _ever_ heard," he responded in an almost...amused fashion.

The dark, furious glint in Mullins' eyes grew darker and he tightened his grip on the boy's collar, fisting more cloth in his hands. "What's your name? I should write you up for this." He was clearly restraining every muscle, every bone in his body not to punch and beat the younger male.

He just smiled in return to the threat. Logan peered around the corner some more. This guy had to be insane or have some sort of death wish...

He must have gone around the corner a bit too far, though, because Mullins whipped his head in his direction. Logan quickly pulled back, but he still heard the heavy foot steps of the policeman walking down the sidewalk in his direction.

"Carlos Garcia," he heard the tan boy call, and the footsteps stopped. More carefully this time, he looked around the wall again and saw the officer had indeed stopped in his tracks, but hadn't yet turned to face apparently Carlos. Officer Mullins had a look that was a mix of shock and mild fear, while Carlos no longer looked amused, but determined...

Mullins slowly turned around and looked at him. "What did you say?" he asked quietly, all hints of hostility drained from him.

"My name," Carlos took a bit of a step closer to him. "You said you wanted my name..." another step. "Write me up..." another step. "Name's Carlos Garcia." By now he was standing directly in front of the shaken man, practically nose to nose, and whispered in a bit of a menacing tone, "Need me to spell that for you?"

Mullins shook his head and took a step back. He then broke into a mad dash, running down the street faster than Logan had ever seen before.

With a bit of a triumphant smirk, Carlos went back to the alley and to Logan. "I believe this is yours..." he said, shrugging off the tattered cloak and handing it back. Only, Logan didn't take it. He just stared up at the boy, his hero, with wide eyes.

"Uh...everything okay?" he asked. "Look, I know you need this...keep you hidden?...yes?...no?" Logan was still shocked. "Mmkay...well here." Carlos put the cloak down next to him, took his hat off the younger boy's head putting it on his own, and carefully took the bag, slinging it onto his shoulder. "Little note...you might want to wear gloves...i think i have some here...might've sold them, though..." he turned to the holey bag, searching through it.

"Why?" Logan blurted out.

"Why what?" Carlos asked back, glancing to him and back to the bag. "Why gloves? Well as much as I think the scales are cool, you won't get the same reaction out of most. Ah. Here we are..." he pulled out a pair of grey, fingerless, gloves that were sporting many holes and bare threads. "Not in the most perfect condition and the fingers might prove to be a problem, but it's better than nothing..." he handed him the gloves and clasped the worn bag shut.

Logan glanced down to them and back to Carlos who added, "You may want to hurry. They're after me now, but I doubt they'd hesiate to snatch you too," noticing the small question was the only thing he was to get out of him, Carlos nodded his head once and began to leave.

"No!" all senses finally kicking in, Logan jumped to his feet and grabbed his savior's arm before he could leave. "No. No I mean why? Why did you do that? Stop Mullins from getting me..."

Carlos smiled a half smile. "Us outlaws have to look out for eachother..."

"Outlaws? What do you mean?" Logan asked confused.

He shook his head. "That's a story for another time...but just know a simple mutant holds nothing to what I've done...what I know..." He turned to leave again, but Logan kept his grip on the latino's arm, holding him back.

"Where are you going?" he asked a bit desperately.

"Where am I going?" Carlos repeated confused. "Uh...I'm not sure...possibly back to Earth...I have some unfinished business there. Or possibly Galeir..."

"Did you say Earth? Don't you mean Etracon?"

Carlos again looked confused and shook his head. "Yeah...Etracon...that."

Logan hesitated. "Let me go with you?"

"Excuse me?"

"Let me come with you...please."

"...I'm not sure..."

"Please," Logan was close to getting on his knees and begging if he needed to. "I can be helpful...I-I don't know how, but I can. I'll do anything. I just need to get away..."

Carlos pursed his lips, keeping silent a few moments and nodded once. "Fine. Then get your cloak and gloves...we'll be traveling a while and police, possibly even officials will be here in a matter of moments."

Logan nodded enthusiastically, quickly shrugging on his cloak and pulling on his gloves.

"Oh and one more thing...you better not be too attatched to those clothes...at the first opportunity, we're selling them. Understand?" he was talking in a more rushed manner than earlier.

Logan again nodded and the two began fast walking down the street. "Just one more question," Logan whispered. "Didn't that hurt? When he threw you against the wall..."

"Like hell," Carlos muttered back. "But you never show weakness. Never give your enemies their satisfaction..."


	4. Chapter 3: Memories of Ending

**A/N: Again, sorry this took so long. Thank you for all you lovely people who review and favorite and alert! Enjoy chapter 3!**

**Warning: Some violence and...that's all I can think of right now...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Big Time Rush...but really, the only thing here that's Big Time Rush-ish are the names of the main characters; Carlos, Logan, Kendall, James, Jennifer, Katie, Camille...you get the point. This just poofed into my head and as far as I know it's original to me...But if there _is _something in here that anyone can place to a thing that already exists...well either i didn't recognize it or I subconsciously wrote it in...basically, if you can place it, it ain't mine.**

* * *

><p><strong>"Every man's memory is his private literature." -Aldous Huxley<strong>

Carlos and Logan were now sitting in a small cave hidden in a cliff that once overlooked a beautiful blue green ocean that would lap up the sides of the cave, but was now only reduced to a few browned puddles, endless waves of sand, a few dried pieces of coral and seaweed, and a couple skeletons of some unfortunate fish or other previously live animal.

A small fire crackled between the two, being lit with a strange metallic square that Logan had never seen before, but somehow managed to light the few materials thay had to keep the fire going. It outstanded him to no end, but Carlos smiled gently and refused to let him play with it, pocketing it again in the battered bag he seemed to always keep by his side.

After a couple minutes of idle silence, Logan cleared his throat and looked to his new companion asking a bit awkwardly,

"So...how old are you?"

Carlos, not looking up from the fire, responded, "Nineteen."

"For...how long?" Logan asked, again awkwardly.

Carlos shrugged. "Why do you need to know?"

"I'm curious. I noticed the coded dogtags...those things haven't been used by any of the Councils to retreive information for almost 60 years now..."

"Smart. Observant..." Carlos nodded once. "You're right. And it's actually been about 70 years since they've used the dogtags..." He was silent a moment, his lips slightly pursed as if contemplating whether or not to tell the obviously younger boy.

Finally, after Logan giving up any hope he'd answer, Carlos said, "187 years."

Logan's head snapped up and looked at him so quickly, Carlos jumped back a bit; surprised his head didn't roll right off his neck.

"187 years?" he asked in complete shock. "...Isn't that when-"

"-The Empress first took control?" Carlos interrupted. Logan noticed the disdain his voice held when he mentioned Queen Alezandria.

Carlos nodded, staring at the fire again. "I've been here the entire time...every second, every minute..."

"That's incredible."

Carlos smirked a bit darkly. "Sure. Incredible. Yeah."

"Well I mean, to see all that advancement...all the changes..."

"To see all your family be tortured and killed, your friends be torn to peices..." Carlos muttered.

Logan looked to his hands, feeling rather guilty now. "I-I'm sorry," he stumbled on his words. "I didn't realize..."

Carlos shook his head, waving a hand at him. "Don't worry about it."

Logan, not sure whether to continue the conversation or not, asked quieter. "How'd you do it?"

Carlos glanced at him then back to the fire. "You survive...adapt...don't hold onto anything. Don't get too attatched, don't be too trusting."

"What about that bag? You seem pretty attatched to that thing...I mean, when we traded our clothes earlier today and that guy asked about it, you looked like you were about to kill him right then and there..."

Ignoring the keen observation, Carlos lied down with his back to Logan, and said quietly, "Get some rest...we'll be traveling a lot tomorrow..."

"Okay..." Logan responded, equally as quite and sighing a bit discouraged. Lying down, he was soon engulfed in the hazy blackness that came with sleep. And as soon as he closed his eyes, he was asleep; images and memories of the day and of his life swirling around in his head.

-(**)-

Carlos looked over his shoulder, taking in the form of the sleeping hybrid. Quietly, as to not wake his aquaintance, he sat up and pulled the gray dusty threaded messenger bag closer to him and carefully took out a folded paper. Unfolding it, Carlos dusted off the few sand particles that lay strewn across the old picture. He gingerly held the slightly torn and brownded sides of the faded photo and smiled a little down at it; his own self smiled back along with his parents, grandparents, three younger sisters, and girlfriend Erin and her family. They were standing in front of the highschool in the small town in Minnesota and he and Erin were wearing long navy blue gowns and graduation caps. Everyone was smiling proudly and excitedly. It was one of the few pictures he had of his whole family that survived the beginning of the end...

Carlos leaned back against the cave wall and closed his eyes. The end...he remembered the day so well...

* * *

><p><em>September 21, 2828<em>

19 year old Carlos Garcia leaned against the large tree that sat in the courtyard of the University of Stellar Exploration and Space in a more secluded area of Maine. It was Erin's birthday and he was going to surprise her.

After a few minutes, the main door of the large building disappeared and students began filing out, some walking out with their noses in books, some in large groups chatting and gossiping amongst themselves, and a few class clowns riding out on small anti-gravity boards. Finally, once just about everyone cleared out, he spotted the short auburn haired girl trudge out, struggling with her papers and books. Smiling, he quickly went over in attempt to help with the mountain of work she was carrying.

"Oh hi!" She called upon seeing him, dropping everything.

The boy chuckled. "And people say _I'm_ clumsy..." he stooped down and helped her pick up her things.

She rolled her eyes and lightly hit his arm with a notebook.

Once everything was picked up and sorted, he kissed her, again smiling. "Happy birthday."

She giggled, blushing a bit and started walking down the cobblestoned path with him. "Thank you. I know! Finally 19...woo!"

Linking his arm with hers, he said. "It's not that great...it's just like 18. I mean, you're still going to school and stuff..."

Pouting, she said, "Don't ruin my birthday. It's exciting...like you're more of an adult...truly grown up."

He laughed once. "Truly grown up?" He shook his head. "Okay. I'm sorry...lemme try again..." He stopped walking and made a loud excited gasping sound. "Ohmigosh it's your birthday! You're 19 now? You're so old! Oh it's gonna be the best day ever!"

Carlos started jumping up and down and clapping. Laughing, Erin lightly hit his arm. "Okay okay..."

Smiling, he stopped and continued walking with her.

"Mm. Guess what?" she asked, suddenly remembering something.

"What?"

"Well remember I told you some time back that we may have found two sister planets to Earth? Like almost completely identical, may be able to support life, holds water..."

"Yeah...you completely geeked out," he teased.

She rolled his eyes. "It's an interesting and incredible scientific discovery! Anyway, we have reason to beleive they're coming closer...like they're actually moving towards us."

"Weird. Are they gonna collide with us?"

She shrugged. "They're moving pretty quickly, at lightyears in fact, but it's still a fairly large distance away...the probability that they'll come even _near_ Earth in _our_ lifetimes is slim to none."

"You didn't say impossible."

"Well, yes. I suppose, with the right technology, money, and power, you could potentially hone in on their own gravities and atmospheres and bring them here quicker, but even then it would take years and years..."

"You space science people are weird."

She laughed once. "Oh really? You police academy brutes are any better?"

"Hey! You're supposed to be nerdy, not mean..." Carlos pouted and used his puppy dog eyes on her.

Erin smiled and rubbed his arm. "I'm sorry. What'd you do today at the academy today?"

"Learned how to track laser signature, or any key signature, in weapons and how to scan and code tags."

She nodded once. "And you still beat everyone at the obstacle course?"

He smiled proudly. "You know that's right."

The scientist to be and policeman in training walked hand in hand, away from her school and towards the large, colorful swirling mass a few feet away. Paying the man sitting in the booth next to it three pounds of uranium each, they both walked through and instantly were back at their apartment complex in Santa Barbara, California. Happily, they both went to their apartment where after putting their stuff down, he told her to get changed. And finally, after a lot of questions answered by 'just get changed' she went and did just that. He also went and changed into clothes that were a bit nicer and not stained with grass and mud.

When she finally came out of the room (after what seemed like forever) in a simple strapless olive green dress that ended above her knees and in a pair of black flats with black bows where her toes were covered, he smiled at her and quickly tied a dark red blindfold around her blue eyes and began leading her outside before she could start protesting.

He carefully guided her down three sets of stairs (cursing himself for not just putting the blindfold on her _after_ they climbed down all the stairs) until he just picked her up, carrying her birdal style down the rest of the way.

He put her down at the end, earning a feirce blush from her and her aimlessly trying to fix her dress. He then led her to another portal, paid their fees and guided her inside the somewhat cicular shape of churning colors and lights.

"Okay, I _know_ we took a portal...where are we?" Erin asked in an anxious, excited voice.

But Carlos didn't answer...

"Carlos?" she asked. "Are you still there? This isn't funny..."

Still no answer...

Erin pulled off the blindfold, about to yell or scold him or something, but instead what she saw shocked her even more. Wherever they were was in utter disarray. The grass beneath them was brown and black from being left untended to or being burnt, the buildings that weren't reduced to complete rubble were broken with corners at where the walls met at the ceiling missing, or complete walls just gone. There was a pile of cars sitting in the cracked road, some burning, and all with broken windows, missing doors...most resembled heaps of crushed metal and some material rather than actual cars. The sky was red and the only light they were provided with to see the disasterous scene were the fires that ranged in sizes all around them. Aside from a few mutilated dead bodies lying in the street and a couple heads, limbs, and bones strewn just about everywhere, the place was completely empty. And silent. The only sounds the two could hear were the fires crackling menacingly and the pounding of their own hearts.

"C-Carlos...where are we?" Erin whispered scared to him.

"Minnesota..." he whispered back. "I was gonna surprise you for your birthday..."

"What happened here?" she asked a bit louder, her voice cracking in fear.

But before he could answer, a skeletal creature with pale green rotting skin that was bloodstained, eyes that were completely black and looked as if it had no eyes, an arm that was mostly just skeleton and muscle now, a row of bloody razor sharp teeth, a hole in its head where a gray decaying brain was visible, peeked around the corner at looked with its soulless eyes directly at them.

Both live people, took an involuntary step back, own eyes wide in shock and disgust.

The thing shreiked a bloodcurdling ear-peircing sound that still rang in their ears long after it stopped and then the thing began running towards them.

Erin was frozen in her spot, but Carlos wasn't going to give up that easy. He grabbed her hand and turned them around, running. He expected to find the portal they took to this hell hole to be there, but surprisingly it was gone, leaving them to try to outrun whatever that damnable thing was.

They got a fairly far distance away; the thing was fast, but it clearly had a broken leg which made it, what Carlos thought, probably considerably slower. Until, of course as in _any_ horror disater scenario, he missed seeing the putrid skull that lay cracked in their path and he tripped on it; completely smashing it as he fell on it, Erin falling on top of him.

He winced a little and quickly turned over in time to see the creature come closer and closer by the second. Erin whimpered and he pulled her close to his chest, closing his eyes, waiting for his death.

The thing reached the couple and screamed its shrill bone chilling noise again.

Carlos tightened his hold on his girlfriend, Erin nestling her face in the crook of his neck and beginning to cry a little.

They waited, an agonizingly long time, but...the demon never attacked. Carlos opened his eyes in confusion and looked to see...it was dead? There was a large, bloody hole in the middle of its face, clearly not there before...what had happened? Why was it suddenly dead? Were they dealing something even _worse_?

That thought crawling through his mind, Carlos quickly stood up, pulling Erin up with him.

Erin wiped at her eyes. "What? What is it?" she asked, noticing the now dead creature lying at their feet.

She screamed and then both of them heard a gruff male voice call from somewhere, "Quiet! You don't want to attract more of those things, do you?"

Erin stopped screaming, but her eyes were still wide and brimming with fear.

Carlos put a protective arm around her and called, "Whose there?"

A tall man, about 6'4" stepped out from the cover of smoke and a half of a broken billboard, carrying a large gun neither of them had seen before. "Name's Dan...that sure was a close one..."

"Carlos..." Carlos repsonded hesitantly.

Dan nodded once. "Nice to meet you," he responded very casually and began to turn to leave.

"Wait!" Carlos called out, exasperated. "What...what happened here? What was that thing?"

Dan didn't turn around, but they could hear the smirk in his voice. "That was an infected...sort of a...zombie, I guess you could say. And this here? Well. You both have just entered the apocolypse...Welcome to the end."


	5. Chapter 4: To Yell and Plan in Galier

**A/N: Sorry this took so long to update...but because it's Labor Day, I plan to update all my stories! Yeah. So, again, sorry I took forever to update and enjoy! Please remember to review!**

**Warning: Some violence and...that's all I can think of right now...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Big Time Rush...but really, the only thing here that's Big Time Rush-ish are the names of the main characters; Carlos, Logan, Kendall, James, Jennifer, Katie, Camille...you get the point. This just poofed into my head and as far as I know it's original to me...But if there _is _something in here that anyone can place to a thing that already exists...well either i didn't recognize it or I subconsciously wrote it in...basically, if you can place it, it ain't mine.**

* * *

><p><strong>"If I should ever be captured, I want no negotiation - and if I should request a negotiation from captivity they should consider that a sign of duress." - Henry A. Kissinger<strong>

"This is a bad idea being here," Logan muttered scared for the umpteenth time.

"No it's not," Carlos again responded to him, in a more confident tone than the younger boy.

"Well let's see; you're a wanted fugitive and I'm an alien hybrid that everyone wants to disect molecule by molecule - doesn't seem very promising!"

"Sounds like a sitcom..."

"I don't even know what that is! Stop making references to stuff that doesn't exist anymore!"

Carlos rolled his eyes and turned to him with his arms crossed. "Look. We're on Galeir now-"

"I already know that!" Logan interrupted.

"I will slap you," Carlos warned. "_Look._ We're on Galeir now, which means that unless you're a human like me, you don't matter. This place is _only_ for the richest of the rich. And frankly, with your skin and all, you look more alien than human. People are only gonna notice the green skin tone and immediately think you a servant...a lesser class. _You're_ safe. _I'm_ the one that needs to hide...these people may own practically all the money in our galaxy, but that doesn't mean that they won't stop at anything to get more...in fact, that's a perfect example over there." He gestured to a giant mega-tronic electric board that flashed the smirking mugshot of Carlos and the ever increasing reward for his capture.

"So...what do we do then?" Logan asked.

Carlos smirked in such a way that was identical to his police picture. "Follow my lead," he answered, taking the black cloack off Logan's shoulders and putting it around his own, reminding Logan very much so of how he came to meet his companion almost a month ago.

"I feel so exposed...this is a bad idea," Logan muttered to him.

"Shut _up,_" Carlos muttered back. "Look around. Tell me what do you see with these people?"

Logan stopped in the middle of the street and looked around. "Uh...suits, top hats, fancy fans...they're rich. I dunno."

"Look at their faces."

Logan took another closer look and noticed something he wasn't particularly used to; people completely ignoring him. Not giving him strange looks when he walked by. His mouth dropped in shock. He couldn't believe the lack of interest he was recieving.

"That's what I thought. Told ya," Carlos murmured to him. Though his back was to him, Logan could still hear the smirk in his voice. He began walking down the paved road again and Logan sped up to catch up with him.

"This is weird," Logan said, almost in a daze.

"Do you ever listen? This is what I was talking about it...you're green, so they don't care."

The hybrid laughed once. "Maybe I should move here..."

"Yeah, good luck with that...I mean, it's not like you'd be living in any better conditions...like I said, this place is only for the utterly filthy rich. You stay here, you'd still be living in some cardboard box under a bridge."

"That's discouraging..." Logan muttered, still looking around at the unusal green grasses, flowing water...until he ran into the older boy.

"Why did you stop?" he asked him.

"Because we're here," Carlos answered as if it was obvious, gesturing to the giant, floating electronic board that he pointed out earlier that displayed his mugshot to this world.

"W-what're we doing here?" Logan asked him; all the churning, nauseous feelings of worry and panic bubbling up again.

"I need you to yell at me," he replied, not answering the question and undoing the clasp around his neck for the tattered cloak.

"What?" Logan asked confused.

"Logan Mitchell, I'm asking you to yell at me. What's so difficult to understand about that?"

"Uh, the fact that we're in a crowded street and you're standing right under the thing that will get you convicted."

"Yeah...yell at me."

Logan ran his hand through his short, slightly spiked black hair, starting to get irritated. "Why don't you get it? This is stupid! You're gonna get yourself killed."

"That's good. Talk louder."

Logan glared at the tan boy. "Fine. You want me to yell?"

"It's all I want."

Logan's hands clenched into tight balls by his sides and glared impossibly harder at him. "You are so incompetent! Do you even _know_ what it means to be careful or cautious? No. You obviously don't!" Logan yelled at him while Carlos just smiled and everyone on the street began looking in their direction. "You are the complete definition of idiot. You obviously don't give a damn about anything or anyone and y'know what? I WANT YOU TO GET CAUGHT! It'd teach you a lesson you stupid, stupid man!"

Logan's usually green skin was tinted red and his eyes were dark with anger.

Carlos smiled at him widely and a few people began walking in their direction.

"Perfection," Carlos muttered at him. "My dear boy, you are an artist with yelling and screaming. I applaud you."

"Shut up!" Logan yelled, still angry and frustrated.

The older man smiled, putting his hands up as if in surrender.

The mutant opened his mouth to continue his loud rant, when he heard a sharp gasp fill the air. Both Carlos and Logan looked into the continuously growing crowd of millionaires and saw as one young woman wearing a fitted blue and green dress with a large ballgown-like skirt pointed over to Carlos.

"Him!" the small girl cried and looked around at the other people, her curled blonde hair bouncing with each movement. "He's the wanted man!"

"Let's get him!" shouted a man in a tailored black suit. With that proclomation, the masses started yelling unintelligable words and running towards Carlos and Logan.

Carlos smiled a large, strangely happy smile to Logan and grabbed the untied cloak from around his feet and pushed Logan towards a brick building; away from the oncoming crowd. He waved his arm in a swooping fashion, almost bowing, and saluted to his friend, "Toodles!"

The latino ran forward towards a tall wood building and jumped, grasping at the titanium ladder hanging halfway up the side of the building. He quickly climbed up and ran across the roof, jumping up to the next rooftop and continuing across. He looked down the edge and slightly grinned, seeing the richest of the rich gather around the bottom edge of the building; the group growing larger and larger by the minute and a few people, most likely police, start to enter the pristine structure up to him.

Within a few minutes, he was joined by five officers of the law all pointing heat sensing laser guns at him.

Carlos smirked and put his hands up, letting go of the robe as he did so. "Hello officers."

The tallest, closest one to him held his gun steadily targeted at him; his glare as intense as the buzzing sound coming from the gun. "No funny business. Just come quietly."

The criminal smiled impossibly wider and took a step back, his feet half off the building. "Come catch me boys." He jumped off the building into the swarming crowd below him.

He closed his eyes and put his hands out, grasping the familiar fabric of his comrade's cape that hung on a wire connected between the building he was just on and the floating building in front of him. Swinging his body back and forth, and the constant up and down movement of the detatched building in front of him, the robe started moving forward and down the wire line, into the window in front of him. Once inside, Carlos quickly closed and locked the window and got to his feet; tying the part of his make-shift zipline back around his neck.

A soft gasp was heard from across the room and a grin spread across Carlos' face. He quickly turned toward the source of the voice and pulled out an old time gun with bullets, pointing it to the tall man.

"Hello, Mr. Diamond."

"W-what do you want with me?" James Diamond asked in a frightened tone.


	6. Chapter 5: The Kidnapped and the Drownin

**A/N: Yay Chapter 5! Thank you to all who reviewed! I really appreciate it :) For those of you following 'I Never Stopped Believing in You,' I'm sorry that I haven't updated...I dunno. I haven't had the motivation for that story for a while now..anyway, enjoy and please review!**

**Warning: Some violence and...that's all I can think of right now...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Big Time Rush...but really, the only thing here that's Big Time Rush-ish are the names of the main characters; Carlos, Logan, Kendall, James, Jennifer, Katie, Camille...you get the point. This just poofed into my head and as far as I know its original to me...But if there _is _something in here that anyone can place to a thing that already exists...well either i didn't recognize it or I subconsciously wrote it in...basically, if you can place it, it ain't mine.**

* * *

><p><strong>"The things you own end up owning you." - Chuck Palahniuk<strong>

For as long as he could remember, James had lived the perfect life. His father, Nathaniel, owned all the rites and taxes for water on Etracon and Groutron making the Diamonds the wealthiest people besides the reining Empress. His whole life, he had only known the ways of relaxing and being pampered. The only goal in life was to gain more money; the more the better.

Throughout his life, he had had seventeen butlers (all aliens from Groutron), twenty-eight maids (all humans from Etracon), and the best security system in their galaxy. So it surely came as a shock when somehow a strange latino came flying though his window, holding a strange gun-like thing at him that he had never seen before.

The strange tanned man had a small, almost wild looking smile on his face as he said in a low, calm voice, "Hello, Mr. Diamond."

Unsure what else to do, James slowly raised his shaking hands up and asked in a frightened tone, "W-what do you want with me?"

The crazed man took a step forward, keeping the weird rustic device trained between James' eyes and smiled a bit wider, "You, my wealthy wealthy friend, are my ticket out of here."

James looked to him confused, subconciously taking a slight step back. "Ticket?"

"But of course." In a few quick strides, the man was next to him, swiftly turning him around and grabbing his arm, holding it behind him then pointing the cold metal tube to his temple.

James' eyes widened in a frightened manner and he began shaking even more.

"Oh I'm sorry..where are my manners? My name is Carlos. Carlos Garcia," he started leading him out of the large floating mansion. "Of course, you must know that already. You rich folk..always looking for more, correct?"

Distracting himself from the situation, James tried focusing on his words. He noted the way his voice took on a slight sour note when he said 'rich folk.' Clearly from Etracon. The freaks from Groutron were less bitter about their situation. And his name..Carlos Garcia...where had he heard it before? Wait..was he..that fugitive! Just perfect. Not only was he getting kidnapped, but it HAD to be from the most dangerous one out there. It was just his luck. Why was everyone so obsessed with him? Stupid non-wealthy idiots.

He hadn't realized it, but Carlos had lead them outside onto a blacony overlooking a cliff that lead to the ocean below. Under the blacony and surrounding his house was a growing mob yelling and screaming for his captor.

Seeing the masses, gave the young billionaire some hope; certainly they wouldn't let him be taken by this lunatic..

Carlos pursed his lips making a strange whistling sound. Soon after the strange almost animal-like sound came from his mouth, he saw a green dot appear near the cliff. Ugh, not only was the man taking him as hostage, but he was working with an alien too? Perfect.

The abductor smirked at the taller, younger boy and said in an almost mocking tone, "After you, majesty."

Before James could protest, Carlos grabbed him by his collar and jumped them off the balcony.

* * *

><p>Logan watched from outside the mob in shock. What did that idiot think he was doing! He was gonna get not only himself but now an innocent victim killed! He still couldn't believe that the moron had survived a fifty-foot drop and managed to zipline into that mansion. I mean, what kind of person did those sort of things? Clearly one with a major death wish.<p>

But still..despite him being a stupid suicidal freak, he DID manage to plan this whole thing so far without flaw...actually, the mutant wasn't entirely sure if all this _was_ really planned, but what other explanation was there to the precise perfect timing of..well.._everything_ so far?

Speak of the devil and he shall come.  
>The very latino he was thinking of suddenly came rapidly falling as a blur in front of him down the cliff, keeping a tight grip on the rich boy he had kidnapped.<p>

But before Logan could even process what was happening, he felt an unexpected tightening starting at his chest and quickly spreading as he also began falling after the friend he was really starting to consider leaving. His mind was still whirling as the images of his life began flashing in front of his eyes, when he felt the cold sharp water hit him at full force. It knocked the poor hybrid's breath out and left him momentarily blind. In his state of confusion, he began sinking and falling evermore into the harsh water; moving back and forth, closer and closer to the rocky cliff wall with each turn of the wave. He flailed his arms trying to swim up, but with the blur he was in and no clear light to guide him, it was a losing fight. His throat and chest started burning from the lack of much needed air, but (strangely enough) his skin started burning even worse than his air deprived system. It felt as if his skin was bubbling and boiling away; like his whole being was on fire.

Logan opened his mouth to scream out in pain, but, without thinking, swallowed a moutful of water. His already hazy vision started fading when he felt two hands grab him under both of his arms. He was pulled out when the darkness consumed him.

* * *

><p>.<p>

* * *

><p>When he woke up again, his head was pounding, he felt extremely weak and exhausted and his skin still had that awful scorching feeling. After a few minutes, he finally decided to open his eyes. His vision was still a bit blurry, but he decided to look around. He was in a cave..he knew that for sure.<p>

Carlos walked into his vision, buttoning up a dry white shirt. Seeing he was awake, the older man smirked. "So you're alive. Though, honestly, I'm not sure how great of company you'll be if I'll be constantly saving you." Though his demeanor was calm and casual, Logan could clearly see that his eyes betrayed him and hold honest worry and concern.

Logan slowly sat up and propped himself up on his elbows. Wincing a little, he asked in a gruff voice, "What..what happened."

Carlos frowned a bit and shot a glare to the unidentified man Logan had seen him kidnap not all that long ago. "Well I _had_ a pristine plan, but pretty boy over there just had to ruin everything by grabbing your shirt and pulling you down with us. Quick note. Apparently water and you don't mix well...I don't mean with the whole drowning thing.."

"You were gonna get us killed!" James angrily and loudly interrupted over his shoulder.

Carlos rolled his eyes and started fixing his suspenders, the buttons being done. "How many times must I tell you I knew _and_ know what I'm doing! We were at a perfect trajectory where we both would've been perfectly fine. But _nooo_. You just _had_ to drag Logan down with us and nearly get myself and especially Logan killed!" He walked over to James and swiftly swatted the back of his head, earning a pained yelp in response.

Again Carlos rolled his eyes and walked back over to Logan, muttering. "I didn't even hit you that hard, pansy..." He cleared his throat and continued in his regular tone and volume of voice, "I hope you realize that this sort of behavior won't be tolerated..now that you're our slave and everything."

James whipped his head around to face Carlos. "_Slave?_ _Our?_"

"Well look at that. You know how to hear things correctly. That's good."

"But...but..he's..He's an _alien!_ I simply refuse to work for the scum!" James protested, his face getting paler by the second as he realized even more how hopeless his situation was.

"Well that's great then! And y'know why? Because he's only half alien. Didn't say anything 'bout those, moneybags."


	7. Chapter 6: A Memory Much Unwanted

**A/N: Yay Chapter 6! Thank you all SOOO much for the reviews! It really makes my day when I get and read them :)  
>QUICK NOTE!<br>Imabe: Thanks for understanding. I'm glad _someone_ does..you wouldn't believe how many mean messages and such I've gotten because I haven't updated. Anyway, I appreciate it and yeah...a break from that story's really just what I need right now. Well still thanks! :)**

**Warning: Some violence and...that's all I can think of right now...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Big Time Rush...but really, the only thing here that's Big Time Rush-ish are the names of the main characters; Carlos, Logan, Kendall, James, Jennifer, Katie, Camille...you get the point. This just poofed into my head and as far as I know its original to me...But if there _is _something in here that anyone can place to a thing that already exists...well either i didn't recognize it or I subconsciously wrote it in...basically, if you can place it, it ain't mine.**

* * *

><p><strong>"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal." -From a Headstone in Ireland<strong>

James grumbled as he and the mutant climbed back up the steep slope to the cave. For almost three weeks now, his ass of an abductor had had him and his sidekick going out from the crack of dawn til about an hour before the sunset searching the dusty sand looking for anything. What the latino was specifically looking for, he was unsure. But either way, he still had the alien and James looking and sifting, dirtying and ruining his used-to-be expensive clothes.

Only once so far had they come across a lone infected roaming the dunes. And just the _sight_ of such a creature nearly stopped his heart before the vile thing even attempted too. With its bloodcurdling roar it charged at the two; both him and the green freak scared to no ends and completely unprepared for what to do in that situation. He remembered holding his breath and bracing himself for the on-coming attack, but before the hellish thing could even come within ten feet of the two, a monstrous boom echoed through the air. Immediately, the infected dropped down dead; black soulless eyes staring up forevermore at the dusty orange sky. Behind them was Carlos with a larger weapon, this time, that slightly resembled a laser. What had he called it? A..gun. Yes that was it. But still how the older man had managed to come and kill the damnable thing before it killed both he and the alien, confounded him and said alien to no ends.

Finally, he and his anomaly of a companion reached the mouth of the cave. They walked in and parted from there; Logan going to Carlos to report their finds (usually none, but this time they actually had found something of interest..) and James to the farthest corner he could find to sulk.

Carlos hopped down from a small shelf-like structure built into the cliff wall and gave a small smile to Logan. "So. What did you find today?"

Logan opened his fist and showed their prize; a small silver slightly rusted necklace that was made of a simple strong chain and a rectangular pendant with some unintelligible words scribed into it, and an even smaller glass pink flower next to the silver rectangle. He had recognized it as a dog tag and would usually think of it as something of not much value, but knowing Carlos himself had one of these tags, he thought it perhaps might be an interesting little thing the older male could teach him something about.

Carlos scrunched up his face in thought, squinting his eyes and gingerly picked up the piece of "jewelry" by the chain. He studied it for a couple minutes before frowning; his face adopting a look of despair.

* * *

><p><em>April 5, 2832<em>

19 year old Carlos and Erin walked down the dusty road..or at least what _used_ to be a road. It had been four years since the whole word went into disarray and the infected had started roaming, four years since they were issued their tags to be identified as humans (and not aliens or infected), and four years since they stopped aging to also be identified better as living humans. It was three years since Her Majesty Empress Alezandria took complete reign over their world and joined Earth with the two other earth-like planets, and two years since Earth was renamed and almost everyone left to the newer safer planets; Galier and Groutron.

The two had tried countless times to steal a ride or portal to one of the sister planets, but to still no avail; they were still stuck on the former blue planet.

After the intial find of the beginning of the infection in Minnesota and being saved by who they later called Buck (he never provided an actual name), they quickly learned from Buck how to kill the things, how to use older non-laser guns as they required less engery and were much quicker and effective than the laser based weaponry, how to save up on water on food and other neccessities...in general, how to survive in the apocolyptic world. The couple had stayed with him six months until they decided to go venture their way back to Los Angeles and try to find their families in the chaos. The journey took approxiamtely eight months to make their way solely on foot (while still scavenging for resources and fighting for their lives) and in the end they still only found them all dead or even a few unfortunately turned into infected. They only managed to grab a few pictures and other lightweight keepsakes before they escaped another horde.

Through the endless heat and dust, they saw a small broken house appear in the horizon. Knowing that it very likely was infested with several infected, perhaps even a nest, they ducked behind a small dune and watched.

"What do you think?" Erin asked, eyes not leaving the building.

Carlos shrugged. "Most likely around the windows and doors. If we go through the second floor window we should be okay.."

"What about climbers?"

"Climbers are more rare in these parts. I think we need to worry more about the fast and strong..especially strong."

Erin nodded and rummaged through their shared messenger bag, pulling out some rope. "Shotgun?"

"It's all yours. I'll stick to the glock."

"Let's do this," Erin muttered, standing.

Carlos smiled and followed her lead, standing by her side. "After you, darling."

Erin smirked. "My my what a gentleman."

"Only the best for my woman when we're about to face a horde of hell's spawns."

They silently walked over to the broken house and to the back where the second floor window was. In one fell swoop, Erin threw the rope through, getting it caught on some shards of glass that stood haphazardly in the frame of the old window. Carlos climbed in and secured the rope more tightly and helped his girlfriend inside. Erin snapped the long barrel of the shotgun into place and Carlos turned the safety off of his handguns. The two then nodded a quick nod to each other. Erin stood at the back of the room, where Carlos went near the door, kicking it in. They worked in tandem; Erin shooting and killing the beasts that were farther down the hall and stairs and Carlos killing the ones that were leading the team of undead.

They worked their effective system, until..Carlos' guns ran out of bullets. He kept clicking, in disbelielf that he actually ran out. The mob of seemingly never-ending infected began filing into the room at a faster, quicker rate now, knocking down the latino. In a panic, Erin began shooting more wildly than before; missing most of the intended targets. The infected began closing in on him, but Carlos quickly came to his senses, grabbing a knife out of the shoulder bag and attacking the monsters with more vigor and more caution. Seeing he was okay, Erin calmed down a bit and focused more on slaying the awful things.

After what seemed like eternity and one last horrific screech from the infected, the fight was finally over. Carlos let out a breath, glad that it was over and looked to the red head in the corner with a small smile. Instantly, he felt his heart drop though as he saw her small wince of pain.

Erin moved her hand from her stomache to see her palm and fingers coated in her own blood. She looked up to Carlos with wide eyes and felt herself start shaking as she fell to the floor.

"No no no," Carlos quietly whispered, dropping by her side and holding her in his arms. "What happened?"

"I-I don't know," she stuttered, her blue eyes looking into his brown ones scared. "Carlos.." she began muttering.

He shook his head, interrupting her, "No no no. No. You're not..you're not doing this. You're not gonna start the whole..goodbye thing because you're gonna make it through this, you hear me? And you..you can get better again! Right? I-I know Alez. I know her! Well I-I _knew_ her, but she can help. She's supposed to. She's t-the ruler so she has to take care of everyone..she'll help you and you'll be okay and-"

"Carlos-"

"No! Y-you promised me! We said..we would get through all of this. Both of us. Together. You were gonna find the cure and I'd..clumsily help you and everything would be okay again..we'd have a family and-and.." Carlos felt the tears start coming as he realized that despite the promises they made to each other to soothe the nightmares and use it as the flicker of hope to make it through this mess..this was it. There was nothing else he could do to protect her. He put his forehead to hers and whispered to her. "You can't leave me, Erin. You can't. We've already made it through so much. Please..."

Erin's paling eyes fluttered shut and she put her cold hand to his cheek. "Carlos, I-I need you to listen..you have to be strong. Okay? Be strong and keep-keep going. No matter what..okay? You can make it through all this and..I need you..you to do it for m-me. You have to survive. Against everything and-and everyone...be _ready_ for everything and anything..you survive. Okay?"

Carlos lightly nodded his head and spoke in barely a whisper. "I promise. For us.."

"For us," she repeated. "I love you..you so much. You know that, right?"

"I know..of course I know. And I love you..forever and ever."

She nodded a little, feeling her veins and heart start to burn and sear as the infection took over. She winced and in a strangled voice said, "I need..one more thing.."

"Anything.."

"You-you need...to burn the house down..w-with me in it.."

Carlos moved his head up, fully looking at her in shock. "What? I- no. I can't. I won't!"

"I kn-know it's hard, but I-I beg of you..I c-can't be..one..of those.._things_. Please."

Carlos hesitated, but slowly nodded. "Okay..okay.."

He shakily got to his feet and followed her instructions of tying her up, going outside with the dusty bag, then throwing the lighter into the gasoline covered house. He felt his heart crumble to dust and completely disappear as he watched the glowing flames consume the house starting at the bottom floor and eventually go up to where the love of his life was stuck. The only thing he was thankful for was that she had passed out before he left the house; she wouldn't have to feel any pain.

But, as fate would have it, the poor lost boy couldn't even take solace in that mere fact. He heard her pain filled screams fill the air and he cringed in pain. He took a step forward towards the inferno, but stopped and felt his stomache twist into sickly knots as her screams turned into the venomous malicious snarls that all infected shrieked before they attacked.

Carlos slowly closed his eyes as he heard the soul shattering shouts eventually turn to silence. He let one more tear fall before he turned his back to the blaze and faced the empty landscape in front of him. He was alone. But he had to keep moving on.

* * *

><p>"Carlos? Carlos.." Logan called to him worried. The older man had started staring off into the distance a few minutes ago; his eyes becoming foggy and unfocused.<p>

After a few more seconds, Carlos blinked a few times and slightly shook his head. "Sorry.." He lightly took the rest of the dogtag into his fist and started walking to the mouth of the cave.

Logan followed him until Carlos was outside. "You're not gonna explain what that was about?"

Carlos frowned out into the distance and said in a quiet voice, "It was nothing." And with that he left, slipping the tag around his neck next to his own.


End file.
